Islamophobia

Islamophobia is an irrational fear of Muslims. According to Wikipedia, "Islamophobia was recognized as a form of intolerance alongside xenophobia and antisemitism at the "Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance". The articles posted in this category address this form of intolerance.

William J. Astore: As America builds walls and weapons and wages war all over the globe, as our leaders look outward for enemies, we’re forgetting the enemy within America, the enemy that is a much more serious threat to our national security.

Victoria Defrancesco Soto: Scratch below the surface and Pence’s remark is a profound statement about the foundational aspect of the Trump-Pence campaign. The GOP presidential campaign is one that has been built upon “otherization” — driving a wedge among people.

Ron Briley: Schilling is often praised for pitching through an ankle injury displayed on television by the blood on his white socks, but the pitcher knows nothing about the daily courage displayed by young people of the LGBT community who are attempting to express their identity but are all too often ridiculed by bigots such as Schilling.

Steve Hochstadt: Republican candidates believe they can employ the politics of hate to win elections and then later control the hatred they encourage. Meanwhile they teach their supporters that social hatred is good for America. Those lessons take a long time to unlearn.

Richard Jackson: Recovering sympathy for the terrorist, recognizing their humanity, their politics, their suffering, their aspirations, their sense of self in this particular historical epoch, is essential for understanding the roots of their violent actions.

Shayan Elahi: One of the most celebrated in the lucrative cottage industry of Islamophobia is the Somali born, Dutch import, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who uses the account of her own victimhood to drown with invectives and victimize a minority religion in the U.S.

Larry Wines: There IS a reason why we still have a death penalty. Even if you oppose capital punishment with every fiber of your being, you must be able to see why it’s still there, when you are confronted with this.

Brent Budowsky: Europe is threatened by bigotry against Muslims that is promoted by extremists from the right and given credence in some recent novels, and by bigotry against Jews reminiscent of the early days of the darkest hours of European history.

Tom Hayden: Newcomers like Senator King worry that the Obama administration has “essentially rewritten the Constitution,” giving rise to a new Imperial Presidency, buffered by an expanded security state.

LGBT Rights

Irene Monroe: Long before June officially became Gay Pride Month, and October “Coming Out Month” for the LGBTQ community, Halloween was unofficially our yearly celebrated “holiday,” dating as far back at the 1970s when it was a massive annual street party in San Francisco’s Castro district.

The Middle East

Richard Greeman: Anti-government demonstrations spread across Morocco after social media spread the story of Mousine Fikri, a fishmonger crushed to death inside a garbage truck as he tried to block the destruction of a truckload of his fish confiscated by police.